Mark Epstein on Muck Rack

Mark Epstein

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Saint Helena
As seen in: Napa Valley Register, LinkedIn, The New York Times, Yahoo Life, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, New York Daily News, OUPblog, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, U.S. News and World Report, Veterinary Record and
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Vantage Point: 'Smiles of a Summer Night'

Vantage Point: 'Smiles of a Summer Night'

napavalleyregister.com — Having grown up with the films of Ingmar Bergman, on a recent trip to Sweden it was mandatory that I make a pilgrimage to Faro Island. This was the rugged and rural home of the reclusive director, whose privacy was protected by his fellow islanders. Pedaling on a country road, I sensed that this was about as isolated as one could get these days in Western Europe. We were there around the summer solstice, when the sky darkens only briefly after the midnight hour. Bergman's lightest and most joyful film, "Smiles of a Summer Night," has the solstice as a major character in a film of social and sexual shenanigans.
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Vantage Point: Frustrations of the fall season

Vantage Point: Frustrations of the fall season

Napa Valley Register — Melancon first voted two years ago in the midterm elections. His mail ballot was rejected because his envelope signature didn't match his signature of record. At this point, let me interject. I don't know about everyone else, but my signature changes every time I sign something.
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Vantage Point: Shaken or Stirred?

Vantage Point: Shaken or Stirred?

napavalleyregister.com — Though the economic recovery is moving ahead haltingly, an upturn is now clearly established. Folks feel better, they're spending more, and that's good both nationally and at the street level in St. Helena. One non-scientific but flavorful indicator of the recovery in our town is a heightened interest in cocktails. This is the inventive and intriguing world of recipe-based mixed drinks, a realm of fresh herbs, good fruits and rare liquors. These are the successors to the drinks our grandparents and great-grandparents imbibed in the 1930s, when a depressed economy was also slowly mending.
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Surviving our 2020 Plagues in St. Helena

Surviving our 2020 Plagues in St. Helena

Napa Valley Register —
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Vantage Point: The generosity of wine

Vantage Point: The generosity of wine

napavalleyregister.com — Perhaps because it was just before Passover and Easter, the recent meeting of the Napa Valley Vintners/St. Helena Star wine-tasting panel was even more affable than usual. This group, with an ever-changing roster, is mostly winemakers. They, more than any other set of imbibers, appreciate the constant struggle to craft good wine. At this session, we tasted inexpensive local chardonnays. Alas, only a few were notable. But Chris Phelps of Swanson encouraged his brethren: "We need a white wine" in Napa (regardless of any specific varietal). Swanson, in fact, is going to release its first chardonnay.
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Vantage Point: In St. Helena, we're bored, not depressed

Vantage Point: In St. Helena, we're bored, not depressed

Napa Valley Register — Most everyone I know has been engaged this summer in a continuing search for social stimulation. Some, including this writer, have stretched the normal boundaries of what we call interaction. Like going to medical appointments. Early in this seemingly perpetual staycation I had a physical therapy session scheduled downvalley.
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Vantage Point: A dry but celebratory January

Vantage Point: A dry but celebratory January

napavalleyregister.com — Around every Dec. 15, at least one of my friends will helpfully inquire, "Are you not drinking this January?" Alas, my pattern of starting each year on the wagon precedes me. I'm stuck with a commitment that goes back more than a decade. This practice was introduced to me by the late renowned winemaker Art Finkelstein. He suggested that whatever the physical benefits of a dry month, the psychic or spiritual benefits were even greater. If we can't go without wine for four weeks, then surely there's something seriously wrong. Each January, I find that growing numbers of vintners, grapegrowers and other imbibers are joining me in going dry.
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Mayors and the economic consequences of everything

Mayors and the economic consequences of everything

Napa Valley Register —
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Vantage Point: Health haze: Heal thyself

Vantage Point: Health haze: Heal thyself

napavalleyregister.com — It now looks like Medicare will be front and center in the presidential election. Good; it's an elaborate, entrenched, expensive system that will eventually run out of money. But what's not so good is that we may not hear any grown-up, intelligent, non-ideological words about it. Republicans claim that throwing Medicare dollars to private insurers will be beneficial, but it's totally unproven that anybody would gain except the insurance companies themselves. On the other hand, Democrats aren't confronting the financial mountain of ever-increasing service demand as we baby boomers hit 65. I had my "Medicare Moment" this summer.
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Moving slowly to a new normal in St. Helena

Moving slowly to a new normal in St. Helena

Napa Valley Register —
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Vantage Point: Crime and paradise

Vantage Point: Crime and paradise

napavalleyregister.com — This winter, a bunch of us escaped to the Mexican jungle for a yoga retreat. To say we were roughing it would be wrong: rustic but refined cabins, excellent food, terrific margaritas. And totally removed from civilization: no phone, no Internet, no TV. Most of us forgot which day of the week it was. Yet we were not isolated from the problems of the world. In advance, the resort had reassured us about leaving valuables in our cabins. Management noted on the resort website that they trusted the staff completely and there had never been a crime on the property.
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